As Loving Mother

Sai the Mother is all Love. Here she knows only to forget and forgive, to tend, uplift and correct. The rod is spared to give a love-lash. And in that flood of Love pure all dirt and filth inside and outside are washed off. When it comes to attending Her children she is meticulously careful. They miss nothing. The way Baba looks after the students whom He claims as the 'only property of His' will abash even the loving earthly mother. His looks and smile virtually stroke them with tender affection. Basking in that shine of Love and enlightenment they also respond almost in the same measure, if not equal, for who can equal Him in anything? He sits like a proud mother to hear His children reciting vedas or delivering a lecture. None is in ecstasy more than Him to listen to the brilliant academic performance of His children.

This love of His has the same warmth when it is doled out to the elders as well, for whose mother He is not? Those who have travelled with Him can vouch for this. Kasturiji, His biographer, who had had the good fortune of travelling with Him many times says in his autobiography, 'Loving God' that Baba would Himself fill the cups with coffee from the thermos kept in the car and serve His devotees travelling with Him whenever the car halted for a break. So is the case with lunch. And like a loving mother He would insist on their having more of certain delicious items except where a certain item is harmful for a devotee owing to certain chronic ailments.

Let us listen to a full description of this from Kasturiji himself from his Loving God.

"When He wills a journey by road He loads the car with hampers heavy with breakfast, lunch or dinner, besides snacks and fruits in plenty. He scans the countryside to spot a sheltered nook encircled by blossoms and He finds one soon. The carpet is spread, jugs of water are brought, hampers are opened, baskets are emptied, plates and cups are handed out. Mother Sai squats in the centre. With exclamations of appreciation, He places each item of food on the plates held before Him by us - the children. Devotees dare not say 'Enough' or 'No' on the basis of their digestive efficiency, allergic alarm, dietary prejudices, etc. They relish whatever comes from the Divine Hand and consume the quantity He grants. So, Baba decides the measure and the menu for each. He prohibits, persuades and recommends. "You have a touch of diabetes", " you are over eighty", "This pickle is popular in your state", He comments as He fills the plates…Bhagawan too shares the breakfast or lunch with us; He loves to watch us enjoying the food He gives. Even while inside the car, He takes out one by one luscious apples from the bag He keeps near Him, slicing them with care, He tempts us to eat in plenty. Once …. the skin could not be chewed and swallowed by me since I had a set of artificial teeth unused to tough tasks. I dared not to spit the stuff through the window for fear the denture would follow the skin. Swami recognised the embarassment, the next slice He handed over to me had the skin removed!".

On another occasion Baba and a few others were travelling by car from Trichinopoly to Bangalore via Palamaner. On reaching the Forest Rest House at Palamaner at 10 in the night the party had to be satisfied with food from a hotel which had not yet closed luckily. But there was nothing to protect them from biting cold. Kasturiji says, "We were able to persuade Him to use a shawl which the engineer-devotee was parading his torso at Trichinopoly. Sleep stole into our eyes in the silence. When I woke at dawn from my bare reed-mat, I found the shawl keeping me warm from head to foot. Baba, the mother, had tiptoed during my sleep and gently spread it over me. Baba found me in tears. How else could I express my good fortune and my gratitude at the lesson He taught us?"

When Swami visited Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) in 1982 a plane was chartered for His return journey to Bangalore via Jamnagar. A retired Wing Commander of Indian Air Force was requested by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva organisation of Madhya Pradesh to pilot the aircraft. There were seven others in the plane other than Bhagawan and the pilot. During the flight Bhagawan took seat in the cockpit and, peeling an orange Himself, started giving petal after petal to the Pilot with great love. But the pilot after one or two politely declined more in the usual way of courtesy, for he did not realise the stature of the Giver at that time - an action he repented for with moistened eyes thereafter. Bhagawan also graciously created a gold ring with nine precious gems studded on it as a memento for him - a priceless possession for anyone.

When sick or injured, His loving care has a feather touch. During the African tour of 1969 the car in which Kasturiji and Raja Reddy were travelling met with a small accident and Kasturiji was injured with minor wounds. In his inimitable style he says:

"The East Africa tour enabled me to secure two priceless gifts of Grace. The first was a car accident in which I received a few injuries which drew on me for full seven days the shower of tender affection from Sai, the Mother. I had long cherished a desire to be nursed through an illness by Swami. The African continent conferred that boon on me."

It is not that He showers His motherly affection only on the devotees around Him. Time, space and distance cannot come in the way of His compassion or motherly concern. The author of Anyatha Saranam Nasti narrates an incident: "One night He was lying on his bed and was talking to us, when He suddenly fell down. His body looked like a small bundle that was twisted and tangled. After some time …. He was in great pain … He was still in some world … He opened His eyes and asked a devotee to massage His body. Baba then said :"A lady was in labour. I just made a trip to America. The baby in the womb was in breach position and could not come out. I entered the womb, turned the baby into the correct position, blessed the child and the mother after delivery and now I have come back."